Cali Boy

BOOK PREVIEW: CHAPTER 1

Waking up early on a Friday morning was never an option for me. I preferred to lay in bed until evening and to be exact, I preferred to lay down until 5:30pm when my best friend would march through the door and say the same thing she said every Friday.

"You're still laying down?" Tye whined. "God Alicia when are you going to get up and actually do something with your life?"

You would think that after two years of hearing that every single Friday, I would get bored of it. Maybe even ignore it. Yet here I am, sprawled out on her pull out couch in her Manhattan apartment, ready to give her the snarkiest remark I could think of.

"I am doing something with my life. I'm drinking wine and watching Gossip Girl. If you would stop bitching maybe I would let you join," I smirked. I held up the glass of Moscato before bringing it against my lips and taking a huge gulp. I raised my eyebrows at her. "You know you want to join." She rolled her eyes before giving in and sitting on the gray fitted sheets she helped me put on when I first moved in. I brought my attention back to the TV, because avoiding her eye contact would help me not feel guilty.

It wasn't like a chose this life; I wanted something completely different. When I moved to New York with Tye, I expected us to both be successful. I was going to be a model that would end up on the cover of vogue and she was going to be the well-known artist that would take me to amazing parties. One of the two came true, and it wasn't my modeling career taking off. It turns out, making a living as a model was a lot harder than I thought. I expected test shots, clients, and a lot of commercial and fashion work. Instead, I was hit with the famous words that anyone heard before they didn't get work- 'we'll let you know'. After a while I began to give up and while my career was failing, Tye's was taking off. She became a well-known artist and moved up the latter of fame within a month. She got invited to exclusive parties, which meant I got invited to exclusive parties. The alcohol, the drugs, and the handsome men- it was my version of heaven. It was the reason that instead of landing my own career and moving out, I had decided to live off of Tye and spent my months partying and relaxing.

"I wish that you would at least try applying to jobs," Tye sighed. "Seriously. I'm tired of doing all the hard work to keep this place tidy around here." I ignored her, focusing all my attention on Blair and Serena shopping in Paris on TV. "I know you can hear me idiot. For God's sake you have a business degree, the least you can do is use it." I frowned. I hated to think about my undergrad years and my parents' forced plan for my life. I didn't want to work at a desk my whole life, I wanted to travel and live. What part of that was so hard to understand?

"I wish I had pizza to go with my wine," I sighed. Secretly, I hoped the change in subject would be enough to get Tye to stop complaining, but I knew better. I always had to listen to her bitch for at least ten minutes straight before she would shut up.

"You know what? I'm tired of this shit. You're my best friend Alicia and I love you but..." she shook her head. "If you don't find a job within a month, I'm kicking you out." I let out a huge gasp. What did she just say to me?

"You can't kick me out! I have nowhere to go!" I exclaimed.

"You can go to live back with your family back in Virginia. They can take better care of you than I can." She crossed her arms. Panic crawled through my body and clenched my throat tightly.

"That's not fair! I did apply to a job! Remember!" I wasn't lying. I had applied to a job last week when she was on another one of her bitching sprees. It was a secretary position at a marketing corporation called POS Incorporated and all I would have to do is organize some files, send out emails, and answer phone calls. It was the easiest job I could find that wouldn't make me throw up from just thinking about it, but since I hadn't gotten a phone call from them within a week, I assumed that they moved on to someone else.

Tye got up and I watched as she pulled her long auburn hair into a ponytail.

"So apply to more. I mean it. I'm going out with Ethan tonight and when I come back, you better have applied to at least three," she snapped. "And don't even think about following us and sneaking in. Ethan already told the bouncer you're not allowed in. He's concerned about you too Alicia." She frowned before walking away into her bedroom and shutting the door. It annoyed me that she had to tell him everything that went on with me. I get it, he's her boyfriend and the love of her life and whatever else bullshit she tells me when she talks about him. He was great and a joy to be around, but Tye had a big mouth and shared almost all my personal mishaps with him. Now every time I saw him, he would give me this "poor you" face, like he felt sorry for me. Sometimes he would even recommend jobs to me or therapists to go see since I seemed to be going through a lot. I would just smile and pretend that I would take him up on the offers, but I knew I wouldn't take them. I'd never take shit from anyone who felt sorry for me.

Tye's door opened and she emerged in a black halter top and a pair of ripped levi jeans. She had left her bangs out this time and pinned the rest of her hair into a sleek, high ponytail. It was no secret that she was beyond gorgeous, and it was one of the reasons we got along so well. We were good together, her with beautiful auburn hair and a sweet smile and me with my dark hair and mysterious eyes. The two of us together could go to a bar together and leave drunk without even spending a penny. The thought was fun enough for me to try to convince her one last time to let me go out tonight.

"You look like a bad bitch," I complimented her.

She turned in a circle and smile widely. "Do I?"

"Of course you do." I stood to my feet and adjusted her halter top. I smiled to myself as I looked down at her chest and remembered the few times we had drunkenly brought men home and had sex with them together. We had been on top of each other naked, yet here we were, pretending that part of life never happened. Single Tye was much more fun than taken Tye. "But..."

"But?" she raised her brows, anticipating more.

"But you are missing something. Something important." She looked at me confused. "Your partner in crime."

"Alicia..."

"C'mon Tye. You know how much fun we have in clubs together."

"I do know." She stared me down. "Which is exactly why I want you to stay at home and apply to jobs. We'll have plenty of time to go out together later." I pouted but she shook her head and walked past me. Grabbing her Chanel purse, she opened the door and looked back. "I'll be back late so don't wait up. Love you."

"Love you too," I mumbled as the door closed behind her. I couldn't believe she didn't cave. She always caved. She must have been serious this time. I sighed. Maybe I should apply to some more jobs. I pulled out my laptop from under the couch and opened a job finder up. I had just started searching through the results when my phone began to vibrate. I picked it up and eyed the unknown number suspiciously. "Hello?" I answered.

"Hello is this Alicia Brown?" an enthusiastic voice spoke.

"This is she."

"Great! Ms. Brown I'm Raina Reed from POS Incorporated and I'm calling to let you know you have been selected to interview tomorrow morning at 10:00am. You must arrive at least ten minutes early and make sure to bring any electronics that you have to the office. Do you have any questions?" My mouth dropped open and I couldn't find the words to say. Interview? 10:00am? What had I gotten myself into to? "Ms. Brown? Are you there?"

"Yes, yes. Sorry. Um... thank you. I'll be there at 9:50 sharp."

"Great to hear. Glad to have you on board." She hung up the phone before I could respond. I laid back and started to process what had just happened. The conversation seemed odd, especially the part about bringing my electronics in. The woman didn't even seem interested in hearing what I had to say. Maybe it's all in my head, I thought to myself. After all, a job was a job and now Tye could stop bitching at me for being broke.

I pulled the covers back up to my neck and continued my marathon watching of Gossip Girl. Tomorrow morning, I would wake up the earliest I have in two years and interview for a job I had never done in my entire life. What could go wrong?